The invention relates to apparatus for processing particles of smokable material, such as fragments of ribs and leaves of natural tobacco, fragments of reconstituted tobacco and/or fragments of artificial tobacco. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus known as distributors or hoppers (hereinafter called distributors) which can be utilized to supply particles of tobacco to the rod making stations in machines which serve to turn out cigarettes or other rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in those parts of distributors wherein one or more flows of particles are converted into carpets or layers preparatory to delivery to the rod making stations of machines which are to transform the layers or carpets into rod-shaped fillers to be draped into webs of cigarette paper or other wrapping material.
The overall height of a tobacco rod making machine, such as cigarette maker, depends to a large extent or entirely upon the height of the distributor. The dimensions of the distributor cannot be reduced at will because such apparatus must comprise means for carrying out a number of operations including loosening, spreading, classifying and densifying in order to furnish a layer or carpet which is ready to be converted into the filler of a high-quality cigarette or another rod-shaped smokers' product (hereinafter referred to as cigarette for short). In addition, the distributor must deliver huge quantities of properly treated particles because a modern cigarette maker turns out up to and even well in excess of 10,000 cigarettes per minute. Of course, the quantity of particles to be processed per unit of time is even larger if a single cigarette maker is to simultaneously turn out two or more continuous cigarette rods.
On the other hand, the space in a cigarette making plant is at a premium so that it is highly desirable to reduce the dimensions of the makers, and particularly of their distributors, without undesirably affecting the quality of the layers or carpets which are to be converted into rod-shaped fillers.